While NASA faces budget constraints, the agency recognizes the potential of smallsats to perform cost-effective science missions. Smallsats have proven their capabilities in Earth science, heliophysics, and astrophysics, offering a valuable tool for exploring the solar system and beyond.
"Enabled by low-cost access to space, smallsats have revolutionized space sciences," stated Peg Luce, acting deputy associate administrator for programs for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD). "We can pack more science into packages smaller than we could have imagined 25 or even 10 years ago."
The increasing popularity of smallsats stems from their lower development costs, faster deployment times, and ability to conduct missions not feasible with larger satellites, like constellations. "For many science questions, smallsats provide the ideal architecture," Luce emphasized. “The ability to develop smallsat constellation missions has led to advances in the way we design missions to accomplish really grand research objectives in space."
NASA's budget pressures, including reductions of about $1 billion for science in fiscal years 2024 and 2025, present both a challenge and an opportunity for smallsat programs. “I would look at it as an opportunity," Luce said when asked if the budget crunch was a threat or opportunity for smallsat programs. "We’re able to go bigger and bigger but do it frugally," said Sachidananda Babu, manager of NASA’s In-space Validation of Earth Science Technologies program, which supports smallsat development. “It provides an opportunity for creativity."
NASA is actively developing and launching several high-profile smallsat missions, including ESCAPADE, a pair of smallsats that will orbit Mars, scheduled to launch this fall on the inaugural flight of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket. Lunar Trailblazer, which will orbit the moon to scout for water ice, is also set to launch towards the end of the year as a rideshare on Intuitive Machines' second lunar lander mission.
The successful deployment of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) cubesat, launched in April on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket, showcases the progress of smallsat technology. This month, the spacecraft will deploy an 81-square-meter solar sail, which may become bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. "It is going to be impressive," remarked Roger Hunter, manager of the Small Spacecraft Technology program at NASA.